Cradle of Filth isn't a band I write about here. They are not Glam, but extreme Metal. Their genre of music has nothing to do with today's post. Perhaps you've been following the story of Cradle of Filth and their recent abbreviated performance at Bloodstock Open Air in England. Some moron in the crowd decided to lob dense objects at the band, hitting guitarist Paul Allender in the spine, sending him straight to the hospital.

To all the morons that choose to throw objects from the pit to the stage, this is for you:

Dearest morons,

If you choose to throw objects at musicians during a show and I am in the pit, please beware. No, I won't touch you or assault you. I'm not common like that. I will, however, report you so fast to security, you'll be pulled from the pit before you can flash the Devil horns.

Idiots that choose to lob bottles (filled with either water, beer or urine), rocks, gobstoppers, apples, or whatever else: use caution. Musicians cannot see faces in the crowd. Lights make it near impossible to see off into the distance. A dense object flying hard and fast at a rock star can cause serious damage. Paul Allender of Cradle of Filth could have easily been killed. Is this how you party at festivals? I usually go to shows to see friends and hear music. I'm not interested in throwing shit at people that are basically defenseless. If you are reading this and you are the moron that attacked Paul, I pity you. I've been to shows when people throw bottles at the stage. The performers duck and then they get really pissed. Sometimes the artist just shrugs it off. Other times, there is a verbal warning. I think if I was on stage and someone threw a rock or whatever at me, I'd turn on my heels and walk away. No explanation necessary.

Have you thrown something hard at the stage? What is your intent? To look cool? To ruin a show for 40,000 other people that worked hard to pay for their tickets?

I never understood the point of throwing things at musicians. Are you wanting attention? Here's a newsflash: musicians are there to work. Yes, entertaining you is their job - but they don't need to pacify you, so stop being so damn clingy. Maybe you're reading this right now at your desk. Perhaps you are an accountant, lawyer or teacher. No matter the profession, I bet there would be hell to pay if someone lobbed a rock at your head or spine.

Such an assault would be all over the evening news.

I'm not sure why "pit attacks" don't make the main stream media. Maybe because finding the suspect is like hunting down the proverbial needle in a haystack. At any case, these attacks need media attention because they must stop. It's not just a hazard to the musicians - it's also dangerous to others in the crowd.

Great article, once again! I'm sure you've all seen the famous footage of Sebastian Bach after some idiot lobbed a bottle and it hit him in the head- he dropkicked him from the stage, and then left. Bach had to have stitches, and I think (though i'm not sure) was charged with assault. It's an extremely pointless and stupid thing to do, and I agree totally with what you say, and looksthatkill.

Try throwing something at Angus Young and he'll jump down there and kick your ass himself. Won't think twice about it (even as he's pushing 60). People who throw things on stage need to get a psych evaluation.

Any festivals in Europe are known for throwing shit especially bottles of urine. I would never go to any European festivals its always a mess and always trouble.I'll stick with ROK right here in the USA

I've been to 3 shows where interesting things happened after something was thrown on stage.

- During Green Day's Insomniac stop at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto (1995ish), Billie Joe was hit with a shoe. He made a comment about it and they left the stage in a huff after an abbreviated set.

- At Ozzfest 2001 (maybe 2000), Marilyn Manson was hit with a water bottle. He stopped the show and brought the purp on stage for an old fashioned waterbottle showdown, old west style. Manson cheated, of course, and nailed the guy right with his throw.

- At the Sex Pistols in 2004ish, some moron kept spitting on Johnny Rotten, because apparently that was the punk thing to do. Johnny called him out and then stormed off the stage. After about 5 minutes, he came back out and instructed the crowd to beat the crap out of him.

One other memory, but this time not about things being thrown at the performer. I saw Metallica at an outdoor festival venue in the mid-90's. During the break between Danzig & Metallica, the sun as setting and everyone was throwing waterbottles. I still remember the image of looking over the crowd, seeing what had to be 2 or 3 thousand bottles sailing through the air, all glinting in the setting sun. A heavy metal postcard image if ever there was one.

Was watching the Goo Goo Dolls from sidestage a few years back and just as they were playing the intro to "Iris" on the acoustics, somebody threw a jean jacket and it hung up on the headstock of Johnny R.'s guitar, knocking it completely out of tune... he scowled alot but the second guitar player kept playing... sure lightened up the sound considerably but they kept playing the song... By the end of the song a roadie had brought out another guitar (they use weird tuning on several of their acoustic numbers) but Johnny just gave him a dirty look as the song was over by that point...

I also saw the singer in a bar band in a really rowdy bar in Oakland snatch a thrown glass right out of the air and just fucking HURL it back into the crowd. Now that was cool.